Caballo Loco in Cusco, Peru

Horseback riding in Cusco sounded like a great idea at the moment, then we were assigned a crazy horse.

Before our trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, my husband and I had a couple days to explore Cusco. We walked up to Saqsayhuaman Ruins in the hills above the town. On the way up we met a man who asked us if we were interested in a horseback ride through the ruins. We took him up on his offer even though we were a little concerned about being too sore for our hike.

We followed the man up to a small farm outside of the ruins where he handed us off to another guide. Our guide knew little English and we only know a little Spanish, so it was a bit difficult to communicate with him. It was another reminder that I need to learn to speak Spanish fluently.

Our guide handed us the reins to our steeds, we hopped on and off we went. My horse rode along just fine, while my husband’s horse went a little crazy and raced ahead of us. At first the horse wasn’t responding to his commands, in English. It’s interesting to think that they must only understand Spanish. He finally got a handle on his horse and we continued the tour. Our way back followed a narrow trail next to a steep drop off. I held tight hoping my horse didn’t lose his footing.

I was relieved to see the end of the tour ahead of us. We thanked our guide with our broken Spanish and went back down to Cusco for drinks. We needed a few Cusquenas and a good laugh after that experience.